Fears grow as Gunners midfielder puts contract talks on hold again

ARSENAL are growing increasingly worried that midfield ace Mesut Ozil may be angling for a move to Bayern Munich, according to several sources.

Twice the German international has refused to put pen to paper on a new long-term contract at the Emirates, and he has now said he will not do so until after this summer’s European Championship.

The Mirror reports: “That has caused concern at Arsenal that the £42.5million signing from Real Madrid is open to the idea of moving elsewhere, amid suggestions in Germany that Bayern Munich are monitoring his situation.

“Ozil is on £140,000-a-week with the Gunners but it is not finances that are the key to whether the World Cup winner commits his long-term future to north London.

“Instead it is understood that the player wants to ensure that his peak years are spent with a club who are regularly challenging for the game’s biggest honours.”

Ozil, who led the way with assists in the Premier League last season with 18 – is already earning £140,000 a week at Arsenal but, according to The Times, the Gunners are prepared to increase that to a staggering £200,000 a week in order to keep their star man.

His reason for holding off on signing is that he does not want anything to get in the way of his preparations for Euro 2016 but you’d think his mind would be a lot clearer for the tournament if he had his club future all sorted out beforehand.

Could it be that the 27-year-old – who has two years left to run on his existing deal – is perhaps just waiting to see what big names Arsenal bring in this summer before committing himself?